Tai Goo custom Bush Bowie - my mini-Dao

Mr.BadExample

Mr.BadExample

Joined
Sep 11, 2002
Messages
3,548
Just got this from Tai. We talked about it for a while, I wanted a small dao - the Chinese war sword - and this is what we came up with. I wanted the hikot sheath and rainbow quench, and his Bush Bowie design was hard to improve on, so he just added the ring pommel.
It is forged from one piece, the handle is wrapped with alternating dark and light hemp. The wooden sheath comes with a hemp cord for slinging over your shoulder, and it hangs right at my belt, very comfortably. I'll take it into the woods and hiking when I can! Very happy with it, it's heavy enough to chop with, and isn't too heavy.
It is 17.5" overall.
Here are photos of the knife skeleton, wrapped, and in the hikot sheath. Photos are by Tai.
 

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Wow, you've amassed quite a nice collection of blades lately!! Love his work -- :eek:
 
I really like the rough texture on this knife and that terrific blade. Very nice.
Congrats.
 
very nice....more I see of his work, the more I like. Great to see in person too.
 
Tai is excellent to deal with. This knife just begs to be used. Thanks for the comments, it's a design I've wanted to use for a long time.
 
I just love those bush bowies - yours is a terrific example. Congrats on your purchase and a round of applause for Tai! :)

Roger
 
Great choice. Tai has been around for a long time mixing art, wonderfully functional knives and tribal bladesmithing into one. It is great to see him garnering some attention! I consider him one of the makers to blaze trails (so to speak) when it came to combining artistic aspects in his knife-making 27 years ago.

I know you had a good time working with him Mr. B.E. Tai's attitude and personality are as unique and refreshing as his work. Congratulations!
 
I place him in the top-ten category of appealing work. Simply outstanding and unusual. Congrats on such a fine piece!

Coop
 
Take it from a forger since child hood....Tai is a good smith. His forgings are obviously very well controled and finished off the anvil. nice piece.
 
Best part is that if you get bored out in the woods you can smoke the handle! :D I know, you can't smoke hemp blah blah blah but it seemed funny. :rolleyes:
 
Tai's work is amazing. Tai himself is as mad as a hatful of frogs :)

I only have one Tai Goo knife and I want more. The trouble is, Tai has such a range of skills it's difficult to know what sort of knife to look at next!

That is possibly the nicest of Tai's bush blades I have seen. I love all the little details he includes in his knives, in this one you can see it in the finish of that curl, the start of the forged socket and in the handle wrap.

Roger
 
Tom brought this along to the NJ meeting and it is a hell of a knife! I've always been interested in Tai's work but never owned one, that will change.

Win
 
So that's the piece you mentioned. Looks like it aught to work mighty good! No worries about the handle coming loose with hard use. :) Looks like it carries plenty of weight forward- does the spine stay full thickness the whole way up?

Be sure to let us know how it performs! Big knives rule.
 
It has a slight distal taper but has plenty of weight behind it. I took a few 3-4" saplings down yesterday, only took a few swipes each. It really handles well, and he put a great edge on it. The hollow handle really absorbs the shock, too.
 
Huh. Thar's something I hadn't thought of. The hollow handle takes off some of the shock? Do you think this is because the seam is not welded together, but allowed to compress and spring a bit? Do you think it would be worse if the seam of the hollow handle were welded together?

'Course, keep in mind that shock transmission also has a lot to do with the dynamic balance and the way mass is distributed throughout the blade and handle. It may just seem like it shocks the hand less because Tai knows what he's doing. ;)
 
the possum said:
'Course, keep in mind that shock transmission also has a lot to do with the dynamic balance and the way mass is distributed throughout the blade and handle. It may just seem like it shocks the hand less because Tai knows what he's doing. ;)
Click to expand...
I think that is the case :D
 
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